U.S. Curbs Advanced Chip Sales To China

"The U.S. introduced its latest restrictions on transferring advanced chips to China, but the delay in cutting off chips useful in artificial intelligence showed how the Biden administration has struggled to stall Beijing's advances.

The rules, the fourth attempt in three years by U.S. policymakers to curb China's access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology, limited the sale of memory chips that power AI applications and narrowed the suite of chip-making tools available to China. The Commerce Department also announced the addition of 140 Chinese companies and other entities to its trade blacklist.

Industry analysts said a monthslong pause between the drafting of the rules and their release Monday allowed Chinese entities to stock up on semiconductors and machines they knew were likely to be restricted.

Previous curbs by the U.S. and its allies on chip technology have led to Chinese entities pursuing workarounds to get their hands on banned processors and computing power. In addition, the restrictions were porous, allowing Chinese companies to legally purchase some chips and chip-making equipment from the U.S. and allies such as South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands.

At the same time, the U.S. curbs are credited with constraining the ability of Huawei, a Chinese company widely seen as the country's national champion in semiconductors and other high-tech areas, to mass-produce its high-end chips.

The latest export regulations prevent makers of advanced memory chips, referred to as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), from shipping their products to China without permission from the Commerce Department. Such chips work in tandem with AI processors in the computations behind generative AI systems. There are three major manufacturers of HBM: SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics of South Korea and U.S.-based Micron Technology.

U.S. officials said the controls were aimed at squeezing China's ability to indigenously produce technologies critical to advanced weaponry and artificial intelligence. "These new rules are groundbreaking and sweeping," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday.

The rules are driving a rift between the chip-making ecosystems of the two countries. U.S. chip toolmakers are seeking to cut Chinese companies and certain components out of their direct supply chain, while Washington's export controls have galvanized China's desire to build its own self-sufficient chip industry.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Nov. 25 that the U.S. was "overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China."

While the newest controls may hamper China's semiconductor ambitions, they left loopholes that Huawei and Chinese companies could exploit, said Gregory Allen, the director at the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Certain older versions of high-bandwidth memory chips may remain available to Chinese customers, and not every semiconductor manufacturing facility linked to Huawei was included on the trade blacklist, Allen said.

People familiar with the drafting of the rules released Monday said the bulk of the content had been composed by the middle of this year and was known to many in the industry. The release was delayed owing to negotiations with U.S. allies and chip-equipment companies, and this gave China a chance to build stockpiles, they said." [1]

1. U.S. News: U.S. Curbs Advanced Chip Sales To China. Lin, Liza; Strobel, Warren P.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 03 Dec 2024: A.3.

Kinija uždraudė retų mineralų eksportą į JAV

  „Šis žingsnis įvyko kitą dieną po to, kai Bideno administracija išplėtė pažangių Amerikos technologijų pardavimo Kinijai apribojimus.

 

 Kinija antradienį pareiškė, kad pradės drausti kai kurių retų mineralų eksportą į Jungtines Valstijas, eskaluojant technologijų karui tarp dviejų didžiausių pasaulio valstybių. Šis žingsnis įvyko kitą dieną po to, kai Bideno administracija sugriežtino Kinijos prieigą prie pažangių Amerikos technologijų.

 

 Galio, germanio, stibio ir kitų medžiagų pardavimas Jungtinėms Valstijoms būtų nedelsiant sustabdytas nacionalinio saugumo sumetimais, nurodė Kinijos prekybos ministerija, nurodydama, kad mineralai naudojami kariniams tikslams. Grafito eksportas taip pat būtų griežčiau peržiūrimas.

 

 Kinija gamina beveik visą pasaulyje būtinų mineralų tiekimą, reikalingą pažangioms technologijoms, pavyzdžiui, puslaidininkiams, gaminti. Pekinas sugriežtino savo ribojimus dėl medžiagų, dar vadinamų retųjų žemių metalais, keršydamas už JAV eksporto kontrolę. Spalio mėnesį Kinija pradėjo reikalauti, kad eksportuotojai žingsnis po žingsnio atskleistų, kaip mineralai bus naudojami Vakarų tiekimo grandinėse.

 

 Pirmadienį Bideno administracija išplėtė savo technologijų apribojimus į Kiniją, uždrausdama tam tikrų tipų lustų ir mašinų pardavimą ir įtraukdama daugiau, nei 100, Kinijos įmonių į ribotos prekybos sąrašą. Šis žingsnis buvo trečias reikšmingas veiksmas per pastaruosius trejus metus, kai Bideno administracija siekia neleisti Kinijai pasivyti JAV pažangiausių technologijų srityje.

 

 Kinija kritikavo naujausią JAV žingsnį ir pavadino jį „neteisėtu“.

 

 „Tokia praktika rimtai kenkia tarptautinei ekonomikos ir prekybos tvarkai, sutrikdo pasaulinės gamybos ir tiekimo grandinės stabilumą ir kenkia visų šalių interesams“, – sakė Kinijos užsienio reikalų ministerijos atstovas Linas Jianas." [1]

1. China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S. Pierson, David.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Dec 3, 2024.

China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S.

"The move comes a day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China.

China said on Tuesday it would begin banning the export of some rare minerals to the United States, in an escalation of the tech war between the world’s two biggest powers. The move comes a day after the Biden administration tightened Chinese access to advanced American technology.

Sales of gallium, germanium, antimony and other materials to the United States would be halted immediately on national security grounds, China’s Ministry of Commerce said, citing the minerals’ use for military purposes. The export of graphite would also be subject to stricter review.

China produces almost all the world’s supply of critical minerals needed to make advanced technologies such as semiconductors. Beijing has been tightening its grip on the materials, also known as rare earths, in retaliation for U.S. export controls. In October, China began requiring its exporters to disclose, step by step, how the minerals would be used in Western supply chains.

On Monday, the Biden administration expanded its curbs on technology to China by prohibiting the sale of certain types of chips and machinery and adding more than 100 Chinese companies to a restricted-trade list. The move was the third significant action in the past three years in the Biden administration’s bid to prevent China from catching up to the United States in cutting-edge technologies.

China criticized the latest move by the United States, calling it “illegal.”

“Such practices seriously undermine the international economic and trade order, disrupt the stability of global production and the supply chain, and harms the interests of all countries,” said Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs." [1]

1. China Bans Rare Mineral Exports to the U.S. Pierson, David.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Dec 3, 2024.